


Something Sweet

by kainess



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Baekhyun - Freeform, Chanyeol - Freeform, Chen - Freeform, Comedy, EXO - Freeform, EXOM - Freeform, Fluff, Funny, Humor, Jongdae - Freeform, Kyungsoo - Freeform, M/M, Minseok - Freeform, One-Shot, Oneshot, Romance, Sliceoflife, Suho - Freeform, XiuChen - Freeform, Xiumin - Freeform, baker!minseok, exok, junmyeon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 23:19:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19161049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kainess/pseuds/kainess
Summary: It's Junmyeon's birthday soon and Jongdae, his best friend, finally has a reason to approach the cute baker at the local bakery.





	Something Sweet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aureus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aureus/gifts), [kimjongdang](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimjongdang/gifts).



"Today is the day," Jongdae tells himself in front of his bedroom mirror, "you're handsome, funny, caring, intelligent ~~\--~~ " 

" _Intelligent_?" His roommate, Byun Baekhyun, can be heard scoffing from the other room. "Lying to yourself won't help you." Jongdae runs a hand through his hair before letting out a long sigh afterward. Baekhyun was a little shit, but he wasn't necessarily wrong. Jongdae had done this at least a hundred times and still wasn't able to get it right. "At least you'll have an excuse to finally stumble into his bakery and not look like a creep like usual." 

"Be nice." Another voice threatens from the same room. Jongdae sighs once again. "Just don't come back home with chocolate again. It's embarrassing for all of us." The voice belongs to his other roommate, Do Kyungsoo.

"But mostly for you." Baekhyun chimes in again. 

"Junmyeon likes chocolate cake." Jongdae comments before stepping out of his bedroom and into the living room where his two roommates are. Their third roommate, Kim Junmyeon, had a birthday rapidly approaching and Kyungsoo didn't feel like baking much this year. Normally every year he bakes a cake, but when asked about it he simply went, "buy it yourself you lazy fu ~~\--~~ "

"I can't believe you really go to that bakery every day and come home with chocolate. Does that cute baker even know you're allergic to chocolates?" Baekhyun has a smug look on his face as he leans back into their worn couch, kicking his feet up on their equally worn coffee table. Kyungsoo swats at his feet with his hands until Baekhyun puts them back on the floor. 

"Clearly not or he wouldn't be giving them to Jongdae every day, now would he?" Kyungsoo responds as he scrolls through his phone. 

"Hey, you never know, maybe he does know and he's just aiming to kill him." Baekhyun sends a playful wink Jongdae's way. His roommates were really...something else. He taps his foot nervously against the tiled floor as he checks the watch on his wrist. He wasn't even sure why he was checking the time considering he was in absolutely no rush. He had off work today and no plans for the day. 

"I doubt that. Jongdae and Minseok seem to get on quite well, at least from what I've been able to tell when I went to the bakery to pick up some ingredients. He had such nice things to say about you, Jongdae." Kyungsoo smiles warmly as he speaks, as if to reassure him. You see, Jongdae had one goal in mind today. And that goal was to confess his feelings to a certain bakery owner, Kim Minseok, or at the very least ask him on a date. 

Jongdae has been stopping by the bakery nearly every day after work for the last two months, and while he could hold a decent and lengthy conversation with the owner of the bakery, he still felt shy and overall like a total loser whenever he was around the other. It was frustrating, to say the least. Regardless, his roommates were fully expecting Jongdae to come back with at least the man's phone number. 

"Well, I guess I'll be heading out now. Um, just chocolate cake for Junmyeon, right?" He was stalling. He really didn't want to go to the bakery; his stomach was already in knots just at the mere thought of approaching Minseok. 

"Junmyeon doesn't want chocolate this year, remember? He wants you to be able to eat the cake too." Kyungsoo hums while putting his phone down on the coffee table. "He mentioned something about lemon cake with a thin vanilla icing. I think he wants fruit slices on the top too. I can text him to reconfirm, but I think he might get suspicious." 

"Suspicious? It's not like you haven't baked him a cake for the last four years. I'm sure he's caught on by now." Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at Baekhyun's comment.

"The element of surprise is still exciting." 

Jongdae's sitting in his car in the parking lot of the bakery. He stares down at the list Kyungsoo scribbled down for him, listing each thing he'd think Junmyeon would want on the cake, how he'd want it to look, if it should be a two or three tiered cake. Jongdae was starting to wonder why Kyungsoo didn't just make him another cake again. Maybe it was a part of his plan to get him to stop coming home with dozens of chocolates he couldn't eat. 

He lets out a shaky sigh and turns off his car, popping the door open after. He casually steps out and makes sure to straighten the collar of his shirt before looking around anxiously. Why did the man have to be so damn intimidating? If he was lucky Chanyeol wouldn't be on shift today. 

A familiar chime of a bell rings above his head as he pushes the door open, a sheepish smile forming on his lips when Chanyeol waves to him from behind the counter. Maybe Minseok wouldn't be around today. Maybe the universe would give him a break ~~\--~~

"Good morning, Jongdae!" Jongdae nearly chokes on thin air when the owner of the bakery walks out with flour covering his brown apron. He wipes his hands on the fabric, a toothy grin on his lips as he walks out from the back. "You're not usually a morning person." He comments when noticing the time of day it was. Jongdae had a habit of coming in right before closing. It was when he got off work. 

"Hi, Minseok." He feels flustered just by saying the name. "Well, I'm off today, you know, so I figured that maybe I'd just stop by." Even just saying that sentence felt excruciating to him. It's like he couldn't even breathe. How did he do that? 

Minseok, the owner of the bakery, nods his head in understanding. His straight hair was already a mess with strands sticking out in random places. Jongdae figured he must have had a lot of orders already put in. Chanyeol does have a habit of complaining about how busy they've become recently. He's pretty sure he got this job for the sole purpose of slacking off. "It's nice to see you when I'm still wide awake." Jongdae blushes at this and smiles down at his feet. Wide awake? Did that mean he usually didn't notice the effort he put into his appearance when visiting him after his work shift ended? In that case ~~\--~~ oh god. He looks anything but dressed to impress and he's terrified Minseok's going to realize just how ugly he is. Especially if he's looking at him in a new light. 

"Well, I barely, I rushed over here you see ~~\--~~ " He can see Chanyeol chuckling in the corner of the shop as he tidies empty tables, cleaning up any trash that's left on them or on the floor. Damn him. He'd have to scold him later once Minseok wasn't around. He met Chanyeol before he actually met Minseok. The first time he came into the cafe Minseok had the day off, so he was under the impression that Chanyeol owned the small shop tucked away in a quiet corner of the town. He got along well with Chanyeol, it turns out the two attended high school together and briefly reminisced the days before they had bills to pay.  

Chanyeol was a pretty decent guy, that is until he found out that he had a not-so-subtle crush on his coworker. The teasing was relentless, it was almost as bad as Baekhyun harassing him if he finally gathered up the courage to talk to him. Jongdae, though he had nothing against Chanyeol, hoped he would walk into the shift where Chanyeol wouldn't be around just because he made Jongdae even more nervous to talk to Minseok. Could he be blamed? He had a hard time talking to Minseok when it was just the two of them ~~\--~~ how on earth was he supposed to when he could feel Chanyeol's beady little eyes on him from across the store? 

"You rushed over?" There's concern in Minseok's tone and Jongdae immediately regrets his choice of words. He didn't normally have this difficult of a time talking to Minseok, but the thought of confessing or asking him on a date was psyching him out more than he'd like to admit. "Was something wrong?"

"Uh," Jongdae feels like jumping into a hole and dying, "no, I just, uh ~~\--~~ "

"He heard we were running low on his favorite kind of chocolates." Chanyeol chimes in from his spot as he cleans an already cleaned table. "I messaged him on KakaoTalk this morning. Told him to grab some while they're still left." Chanyeol knew Jongdae was allergic to chocolate, it was one of the many reasons he liked to tease Jongdae whenever he came in to attempt to get closer to Minseok. But still, he was helping him out and Jongdae appreciated that because wow, was he certainly going to crash and burn without his help. 

"Oh, you guys have each other on KakaoTalk?" There's something to Minseok's tone and a devious smile on Chanyeol's lips that Jongdae can't quite point out himself. 

"That's not important. What's important is that this man is in some _serious_ need of chocolate! Minseok, don't let the poor boy starve." Minseok smiles brightly and nods his head, waving his hand in the air.

"Of course. Once these are out," he disappears behind the counter and heads to the back, his voice fainter, "we'll be out for a while." _Tragic, Baekhyun really likes those_ , Jongdae thinks to himself. 

Chanyeol looks over to Jongdae and just shrugs. "Sorry." He mouths before moving to another table to clean. 

"But don't worry, I'll make sure to make them as soon as I have all the ingredients ready again." Jongdae can't help but feel shy from the way Minseok smiles at him. He places a small box of chocolate macarons on the counter in front of him. "There's nine in here. I'm sorry I can't give you the usual ten or twelve, but we're running low." He smiles sheepishly as he slides the box across the counter and toward Jongdae. "But, uh, did you want to say something?"

Jongdae snaps out of his gaze and looks up at Minseok. "What?"

"You look like you wanted to say something." Minseok laughs before shaking his head. "Well," he leans over the counter so that he can whisper to Jongdae, "don't tell Chanyeol, but I'll let you have these for free since you're my favorite customer." Jongdae feels his cheeks instantly heat up and he has a hard time keeping eye contact with the baker. 

"Are you sure?" He asks hesitantly, fiddling with the watch on his wrist. "I wouldn't want to inconvenience you, especially if you're running low on these, I should really pay, honestly ~~\--~~ "

"Jongdae," Jongdae feels a swarm of butterflies come alive in the pit of his stomach, "just take the macarons." He laughs quietly. "It's not a big deal. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Jongdae nods clumsily and takes the box from the counter, heading out the door afterwards.

Okay, so maybe today wasn't a huge failure.

"That was such a fucking failure." Baekhyun snorts when Jongdae drops the box of chocolate macarons on the coffee table in front of the two who are sitting on the same worn couch. "Ah, seriously, Junmyeon's birthday is right ~~\--~~ "

"Baekhyun, Junmyeon's just down the hall. Lower your voice or shut up." He rolls his eyes and scrunches his nose as Kyungsoo scolds him quietly. 

"But they're seriously running out of these?" Baekhyun whines even louder and Kyungsoo whacks the back of his head. "Is there even a point of you going back to the bakery once they're out? Like, seriously. Is there?" 

"Uh, to see Minseok? And I can't eat chocolate, so it disappearing has no direct impact on my life." He snorts as he sits on the end of the couch so he doesn't have to be right next to Baekhyun. 

"Yet you only come home with chocolate, and not the man who makes them." 

Jongdae chokes on air once again, shooting Baekhyun the nastiest look he could muster in the midst of choking. "I'm just saying, you need to make your move before someone else does." Baekhyun warns while Kyungsoo leans back in his seat next to him, muttering an, ' _oh god, not this shit again.'_ "I mean think about it, just how many customers does this Minseok guy have anyway? And each day? I'm sure you can't be the only one who finds him attractive." Kyungsoo only shakes his head as Jongdae inches closer to hear more of what he has to say. 

"What do you mean?" He asks almost timidly. 

"Well, how do you know you aren't his only admirer? What if someone else is scheming to get his attention? What if it's a _woman_?" 

"A woman?" Jongdae nearly shouts. "I never thought of that. Oh god."

Kyungsoo gives the two a look of distaste. "There's worse things than a woman."

"Not when they're after Jongdae's man. For all we know he's straight. He could even be bisexual. Then what? Fair playing ground. A woman will steal Jongdae's man." Kyungsoo knows Baekhyun's only fucking with Jongdae now, but the latter doesn't seem to realize this. The expression on Jongdae's face is almost comical; the man looks like his third eye just opened. "Now do you understand why it's so important you get his number?"

"And Junmyeon's cake." Kyungsoo adds.

"But mostly the number. Kyungsoo can always make his cake if you don't ~~\--~~ " Another whack to the back of his head. "Okay. And also the cake. So, Jongdae," Baekhyun takes a moment to straighten up in his seat, "what are you going to do? Are you going to win the date of your life with the man of your life?"

Jongdae grows flustered at this and shyly nods his head. "But, what if he says no?" Baekhyun freezes for a brief moment, almost as if he didn't even consider that possibility. 

"Well, then I guess you'll just be alone forever." 

"For fuck sake, Baekhyun!" However, Baekhyun dodges and jumps up before Kyungsoo can hit him once again. "Do you want him to never ask him out? My god, you'll have him fearing rejection for the rest of his life." He turns his attention from Baekhyun and places it on Jongdae. "The worst that will happen is that he'll refuse, but that just means you have someone even better waiting for a future date with you." Jongdae smiles slightly at this, feeling more relieved than he was just seconds ago. 

"Like Kyungsoo or Junmyeon." The smile is off both Kyungsoo and Jongdae's faces now. 

"Talk to Minseok after work tomorrow. And please, at least pick up the damn cake if not his number." The shorter sighs before getting off the couch and heading down the hall and into his room.

Jongdae finds himself once again sitting in his car in the parking lot of Minseok's bakery. He knew Chanyeol would be home now by the time of night it was. It was a quarter til nine and Chanyeol usually finished up and went home a little after six in the evening. That would mean it would only be him and Minseok, not that he should be surprised, this was the time Jongdae usually arrived anyway. Office jobs don't normally give him very flexible hours anyway. 

He lets out a large sigh and steps out of the car. All he had to do was ask Minseok to prepare a birthday cake and then Jongdae could pick it up later in the week. That was it. That's all he has to do. He loosens his work tie and walks toward the bakery. A weary smile's on his lips when he opens the door and the bell above him rings. 

It's pretty dark inside and Jongdae briefly wonders if Minseok closed early that day, though that thought's soon dismissed when he hears a voice from the back. After another minute a head pops out from around the corner, a wide smile forming when the man realizes it's Jongdae. "Hey," he looks tired as he fully walks around the corner, "I was starting to wonder when you'd come in today. Unfortunately we're all out of those macarons." 

"O-Oh, well, that's alright." Jongdae says as he fights the nerves in his body. He wasn't sure why he was getting all worked up, especially when he only had to give Minseok the list tonight. "That's not actually what I came for tonight." He sees a spark in Minseok's eyes as he looks over him with new interest. Jongdae feels himself grow shy as he quickly averts his gaze. 

"What did you come here for then? Something else catch your attention?" There's a tone to Minseok's voice that catches Jongdae off guard. Still, he thinks he might be overthinking things. 

"It's my roommate's birthday soon..." There's a brief look of disappointment on Minseok's face, though it's gone almost as soon as Jongdae catches it. "Kyungsoo doesn't want to bake a cake this year. So, you know, I wrote down a list, well, Kyungsoo wrote down the list. He wanted me to give you the list so you could bake it later in the week." There's a small grin on his lips as he watches Jongdae trip over his words. 

"That's it?" His gaze lingers on Jongdae, watching and almost enjoying how he squirms under his stare. 

"Uh, yeah?" Jongdae sounds unsure with himself and Minseok can't help but to giggle. 

"Alright, hand me the list." He takes the list from Jongdae and briefly reads it over. "Lemon cake, that's a good one." He places the list down on the counter, eyeing Jongdae up and down before smiling warmly. "What's today?"

"Friday?"

"Cool. I'll have it done by Monday night or Tuesday morning. Should be ready right before his birthday." Minseok hums and grabs the list once again, stuffing it in his pocket before heading over towards the back once again. "Did you need anything else or am I free to close?"

"Oh, uh," Jongdae feels a panic begin to wash over him, "yeah, that's it." Once again there's a look of disappoint on Minseok's face, though he doesn't say anything. 

"See you later, then."

"What should I do?" Kyungsoo looks over the distraught Jongdae sitting across from him the following day. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, pursing his lips as he shifts on his feet. "I don't want to feel so nervous around him all the time. And last night I couldn't help but feel like he wanted me to ask for his number or something. Every time I said I had to go, he would ask if that was really all I wanted." 

Kyungsoo lets out a sigh, but before he can even open his mouth to respond a, "Wow, you really are an idiot." Is shouted from down the hall. Jongdae turns around on the couch, leaning over and glaring down the hallway. He'd hit Baekhyun later. 

"Minseok got him all distraught again?" Kyungsoo jumps in his spot when the front door closes, revealing their third roommate Junmyeon. 

"As always." Kyungsoo says after he calms down. "But he didn't come home with chocolates last night, which I think is a start." Jongdae blushes at this, though Junmyeon flashes him a thumbs up and a smile. 

"That is pretty impressive." He comments before sitting down beside him on the couch. 

"You can't stay out here though." Kyungsoo butts in before Junmyeon can say anything further on the situation. "So go back to your room." He waves a finger in warning as Junmyeon only settles in back further into the couch. 

"Why? It's not like I don't know what you're both planning. I literally made the list for the two of you." Junmyeon snickers and quickly dodges when Kyungsoo lunges at him. "Violence is not the answer!" He's practically using Jongdae as a human shield now. 

"Why am I in the line of fire for this?" Jongdae sighs as Junmyeon moves so that he's just barely behind him, Jongdae nearly off the couch at this point. He's starting to wonder if Baekhyun would have actually been more help. Scary to think about, but Kyungsoo and Junmyeon weren't exactly doing anything for him. "Well, I guess I'll leave you two to it then." Jongdae quickly slips out of Junmyeon's grip, standing up straight and eyeing Kyungsoo and Junmyeon before turning around and darting down the hall towards Baekhyun's room. 

"Oh, I wasn't expecting you." Baekhyun comments when his door is pushed open, revealing Jongdae lingering behind it. The man is sitting on his bed, a gaming magazine in front of him and his laptop to the side. 

"I need advice on what to do with the Minseok situation." 

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at this, though a devious grin soon forms on his lips as he closes his magazine and pushes it to the side. "So you've finally come to your senses and decided that, like I always said, Kyungsoo and Junmyeon would get you nowhere." Jongdae was already regretting this. Why did they have to be his friends? Of all people on the planet, it was these three that he was stuck with. Nice. 

"I just ~~\--~~ do you have any tips for how I can talk to him without my body shutting down? I think he knows I like him, I just don't know how to go about it." 

"But you know he likes you back?" Baekhyun asks with a raised eyebrow. Jongdae grows shy from the question, shifting slightly in his spot by the door. He wasn't sure how to answer that. Did Minseok like him? It seemed like he knew he wanted to ask him out, but at the same time, Jongdae could easily be overthinking this. "Right," Baekhyun sighs and falls on to his back on his bed, "you don't know." He laughs while staring up at his ceiling. "Right?"

"Right." Jongdae rubs at his arm shyly.

"What exactly did he do to make you think there might be something more?" Baekhyun pats the spot beside him. Jongdae closes the door behind him and makes his way to Baekhyun's bed, climbing in and laying down next to the other. 

"He hasn't even really done anything." Jongdae sighs as he stares up at the ceiling. "I might just be overthinking things. But sometimes I swear," his breath hitches as he pauses, watching the blades on the ceiling fan spin in slow circles, "I can see this look in his eyes when I say something and I just can't make out what it means." Baekhyun turns his head and looks over at him with a fond gaze. 

"I think you'll be fine." Baekhyun says after a careful moment of thinking. "Minseok sounds like he's pretty whipped too." 

"What?" Jongdae takes his gaze off the ceiling fan and on to Baekhyun. "How do you know that? Have you ever actually met him?"

"Me? No." Jongdae snorts at this. "But that doesn't matter. I don't need to meet him to know he's whipped. Plus," he smiles deviously once again and this time pushes himself to sit up. "I have Chanyeol's number." Jongdae pulls a face at this. 

"You know Chanyeol?" 

"He's an old friend of mine I met online while playing PUBG." Baekhyun briefly reminisces their first meeting until Jongdae snaps his fingers in front of his face. "Anyway, Chanyeol loves to share the juicy gossip with me about you and Minseok." Jongdae suddenly sits up at this information. "You want to know what he says?" His smile widens when he sees Jongdae nod his head and lean forward. "He thinks you're _dreamy_." He laughs after when Jongdae throws a pillow at him. "Seriously though, he thinks you're cute and nice and you should definitely ask him out before someone as cute as you walks in." 

Jongdae's frozen in spot, letting this new vital information soak into his brain. His cheeks are burning as he stares intensely down at his lap, debating what he should do when he next sees the baker. "I say you just straight up ask him out. You already know he likes you now, so why beat around the bush?" Baekhyun did hold a good point. It wasn't so scary now knowing that Minseok wouldn't reject him. "When's the next time you see him?" Baekhyun asks with a tilt of his head. 

"Monday night or Tuesday morning. Chanyeol said he'd message me when the cake is ready to be picked up." 

"Okay, so it's Saturday. You have tomorrow to prepare what you want to say to him, or you could just barge in, though that's probably not the best idea ~~\--~~ "

"I'm going to tell him tonight." Baekhyun only looks at Jongdae like he's grown three heads though only shakes his head afterwards. 

"You know what's best, afterall." Baekhyun says with a simple shrug. Jongdae beams at this and jumps from his seat,

"Thanks, Baekhyun. You were much more helpful than Kyungsoo and Junmyeon." 

"I know." Baekhyun says with a warm smile on his face. Jongdae turns to open the door, bumping into Kyungsoo who happened to be standing on the other side. "Hey, Soo, but I'm kinda in a rush." He says when seeing the expression on his face. 

"I think we should probably talk about it now."

"I think you probably shouldn't." Baekhyun butts in from his spot on the bed. Kyungsoo shoots him a dirty look and Jongdae smiles apologetically before hurrying past the other. Kyungsoo fixes a pointed look onto Baekhyun. 

"That was mean and you know it." 

"What do you mean?" Baekhyun asks with a confused expression, watching as Kyungsoo looks around before stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. 

"Don't play stupid."

"Okay, fine. But I don't know how that was mean."

"You've never talked to Chanyeol a day in your life." Kyungsoo's definitely not amused. "How could you just tell Jongdae that story? You know exactly what he's going to do right now. He's going to barge in there and make a fool of himself. You better hope there's no customers in there and if he comes back in tears I will literally kill you with my own hands." 

Baekhyun frowns at this and juts his bottom lip out in a pout. "I didn't say that to be mean to him. You know damn well Jongdae will never say anything to Minseok if there's a possibility of him getting rejected. You and Junmyeon weren't helping him with your bullshit pep talks so I gave him the boost of confidence he needed. Besides, Minseok sounds like he's totally into Jongdae anyway." 

"What the fuck are you going to tell him if he _does_ get rejected?" Kyungsoo crosses his arms over his chest as he angrily stares Baekhyun down. 

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Kyungsoo closes his eyes and moves his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. He needed to take a breather. "Listen, I wouldn't have said that to Dae if I thought Minseok wasn't into him. But you know damn well this is the push he needs. And if he does get rejected, he'll see it's not as bad as he's making it out to be and it will help him with future confessions."

"Or he ends up scarred for the rest of his life because the man he was convinced that was into him turned him down. You're going to leave him questioning everything, Baekhyun. You're just lucky I was the one who overheard this and not Junmyeon. He would have skinned you alive." Baekhyun sighs and nods along in agreement. That sounded pretty accurate. "I'm praying for you that this doesn't crash and burn and that he doesn't get laughed out of the damn bakery." Baekhyun frowns at this and only flops back onto his bed.

"Thanks for that."

Jongdae takes a deep breath as he stands outside of the door to the bakery. He glances down at his clock, shifting anxiously. It was actually pretty late at night, he surprisngly spent most of the day talking to Baekhyun. It should only be Minseok inside, so he was calmer than he was on the drive over. He lets out a shaky sigh and forces himself to push the door open. 

Minseok's sitting at the counter, the lights mostly turned off except for a few, giving the atmosphere an uncomfortable dim lighting. Minseok doesn't seem to notice that Jongdae walked in, and he assumes he meant to lock and close up the door. He has his hands in his hair as he sits hunched over, examining whatever was on the counter carefully. His eyebrows are furrowed downwards and Jongdae can practically feel the frustration radiating off him. Maybe tonight wasn't the best time to confess. 

Before Jongdae can awkwardly back out of the shop, Minseok's head snaps up and in Jongdae's direction. He freezes at this, swallowing awkwardly as he rubs at his arm. "Hey." Minseok still looks stressed out and frustrated, though smiles slightly and leans back in his chair. 

"What brings you here at," he glances over at the clock, "nearly eleven at night? How did you even get in?" 

"The door wasn't locked." He swallows anxiously. "But I can just come back tomorrow or something." Minseok tilts his head, a confused expression on his face.

"You know your cake won't be done until later, right?" His fingers are drumming along the surface of the clean counter. "So I'm not sure why you'd come so late at night." Minseok casually slides off the stool, shifting so that he's leaning his weight against the counter. "What are you up to, Jongdae?" There's a mischevious smile on his lips, the same one that always made Jongdae choke up. How could someone be that beautiful? It wasn't fair. "Did you remember something that you wanetd to tell me yesterday?" He pushes himself off the counter and stops only a few steps away from him. The smile is still on his lips as he stares at Jongdae with a tilted head. Jongdae feels his cheeks heat up as he looks at Minseok, only now noticing the baker in his pajamas. Sometimes Jongdae forgot that he lived just above his bakery up the stairs. He must have been getting ready to go to bed soon. He hoped he wasn't interrupting anything. 

"Am I interrupting something?" He asks hesitantly. He takes a step back when Minseok takes on forward. 

"What would you be interrupting? I was just going over bills before you came in." Ah, that was why he looked so frustrated earlier. He remembers Minseok commenting once that he wasn't good at math. 

"Oh, those are kind of important though." His voice comes out as a whisper and he finds himself blushing even more. 

"Did you come here just to blush and whisper?" Jongdae chokes on air and has to take a moment to gather himself together. Minseok laughs at his reaction. Jongdae needed to get this over with. It was now or never, and Baekhyun did say that Minseok talked about him all the time to Chanyeol. He needed to do this, this one thing in his life. 

"Minseok, I actually wanted to speak with you." He was already losing confidence.

"I mean, I figured that's why you were here." He sends a playful wink Jongdae's way. 

He takes in a deep breath, shifting uneasily in his spot. A frown forms on Minseok's face as he looks over the nervous demeanour of Jongdae. "Are you afraid of me?" He asks with a soft tone. Jongdae snaps up at this, quickly shaking his head no when realizing what the question was. "I don't mean to make you so nervous." Jongdae's mind is going into panic mode. He didn't want Minseok thinking that he hated him. That would be the absolute worse outcome of tonight. "Have I ever done anything to make you uncomfortable? You know that if my jokes get too much you can just tell me to stop. I won't get mad at you." Minseok looks like he's starting to actually panic and his voice is getting louder as he starts to speak quicker. It would be endearing to Jongdae if he wasn't the reason for the downward spiral Minseok was about to have. "Because I would never intentionally ~~\--~~ "

"Minseok, would you like to go on a date with me sometime? Maybe? Only if you want to. It's okay if you say no. I'll just never bother you again I swear." Jongdae forces himself to stop talking. He was about to embarrass himself even more. Minseok's eyes are wide as he stares at Jongdae, his lips parted slightly from where he stopped talking. He blinks a few times, his eyebrows furrowing together as he tries to process Jongdae's question. 

Jongdae was confused. Had he not been expecting it? From what Baekhyun told him, he should have been happy. Or at least not this confused. 

"A date?" Minseok finally speaks, though he says the words slowly as if to make sure he wasn't mistaken. 

"U-Uh..." Jongdae hadn't planned this far ahead. Honestly, he hadn't planned anything at all. This was just him winging everything. "Yeah...like, I take you out for coffee or something or dinner if you want." The palms of his hands are starting to sweat as he shakily rubs them on the front of his jeans. He hoped Baekhyun wouldn't laugh at his failure later. 

"When?" 

"U-Uh ~~\--~~ "He didn't actually plan a date because he thought he would have chickened out long before this. Yikes. Minseok smiles brightly before Jongdae can panic any further. 

"Why don't I just text you when the date will be?" He laughs from how red Jongdae's face is, instinctively reaching up and patting the man's cheeks gently. "Oh, they're so warm." He chuckles under his breath as Jongdae's face only burns up even more. "Give me your phone." He says once he pulls away, Jongdae looking at him confused. "So I'll get your KakaoTalk. I'll become the person you message the most. You won't even remember Chanyeol's name." He huffs quietly and Jongdae thinks he might just faint on spot. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, handing it over to Minseok. He smiles slightly when watching Minseok pull up his ID on the app. I messaged myself so you'll have me on there. I'll think of a date and then I'll give you the details. I'll aim for a weekend or night since you're always so busy." He smiles sweetly when handing the phone back to him. "So, I'll see you Monday night?"

"W-What?" Jongdae nearly shouts, eyes widening at the thought of their date happening in as soon as a day.

"For Junmyeon's cake." 

"O-Oh. Right. Of course. See you Monday."

"I seriously can't believe that worked." Kyungsoo whispers to Baekhyun during Junmyeon's birthday party a few days later. The pair are watching as Jongdae and Minseok laugh across the room. Minseok's holding onto his hands tightly while Jongdae smiles shyly and pulls back slightly. "I really thought he'd get rejected."

"Damn." 

"I didn't mean it like that." Kyungsoo shoots Baekhyun a glare. "It's just usually your watered down advice doesn't work out like that. I can't believe you got them together before Junmyeon and I could. What the..." Baekhyun grins and triumph as he basks in his glory. "I know. I might as well be cupid, yeah? Who do you have a crush on, Kyungsoo? Maybe I can hook you up with them too." Kyungsoo shoves Baekhyun's side at this, eyes narrowed as he glares at the other. His cheeks are a faint dusted pink and he quickly looks away. 

"I don't like anyone." His poker face is threatened under Baekhyun's gaze. "And even if I did," he tries to get the sudden attention off him, "I wouldn't ask you for help. You only got lucky this one damn time." A silence is shared between the two as they keep their eyes on Jongdae and Minseok.

"So, did you really just skip baking Junmyeon's cake this year to get Jongdae to talk to Minseok?" Baekhyun asks as they both stand awkwardly by the table filled with snacks.

"No, I'm tired of feeding you ungrateful shits."

"I don't know what you mean; I love your food." Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at Baekhyun's comment despite it being a flattering one. "Oh, also." Kyungsoo looks over at Baekhyun with a raised eyebrow. "Did he ever tell Minseok he's allergic to chocolates?" Kyungsoo takes in a deep breath and closes his eyes.

"You see that beautifully wrapped blue box on the kitchen counter?" Baekhyun turns around at Kyungsoo's question and sure enough sees a small blue box placed on the counter. 

"Uh, yeah?"

"There's fifteen chocolate truffles in there. The tag on it says it's for Jongdae. They're from Minseok." Baekhyun purses his lips together in an attempt not to laugh. It wasn't funny. Really, it shouldn't be funny ~~\--~~

"I mean, it's pretty funny." Baekhyun giggles quietly. "How long do you think Jongdae will let that go on for?"

"Who knows." Kyungsoo sighs as he glances back at the box of chocolates.

"God. A relationship that just keeps on giving. We're going to have the best night ever." Baekhyun laughs before pushing himself away from the table, walking toward the counter and grabbing the box of chocolates. "Wanna meet me in ten for a secret chocolate party?"

"What does that even mean?" Kyungsoo asks hesitantly. 

"Guess you'll just have to find out." 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This short little one shot was written for my two dear friends who have birthdays this week!
> 
> If you're reading this and you're Hailey or Paige, just know that you both mean a lot to me~
> 
> If you're reading this and you're not Hailey or Paige, well, I hope you have a wonderful day and I hope you enjoyed this. 
> 
> And of course a happy belated birthday to our wonderful bunny leader Junmyeon :)


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